May 22nd

Today in America's Present Past

1761 | The first life insurance policy in North America was issued in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1802 | POTUS: First Lady Martha Washington died.

1803 | The first public library opened in Connecticut.

1807 | Aaron Burr was indicted on charges of treason.

1842 | Poet Jane Johnston Schoolcraft died.

A depiction of the “Canning” of Sumer on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

1856 | Congress: Republican U.S. Senator Charles Sumner was badly caned inside the U.S. Senate by Democratic Congressman Preston Brooks.

1863 | Civil War: The “War Department” established the “Bureau of Colored Troops.”

1898 | Novelist Edward Bellamy died.

1900 | The Associated Press was organized as a news cooperative.

Patent application for the Wright Flyer

1906 | The Wright Brothers were granted a patent for their "flying machine.”

1928 | Entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens was born.

1930 | Politician Harvey Milk was born.

The arrest of Ted Kaczyński.

1942 | Unibomber Ted Kaczyński was born.

1943 | POTUS: First Lady Helen Taft died.

1962 | War on Terror: Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashed after bombs exploded on board.

Langston Hughes

1967 | Poet Langston Hughes died.

2012 | The first African American Naval Academy graduate, Wesley Brown, died.

2018 | Novelist Philip Roth died.